The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-07-07

Dig or lower ONCE
"In the name of heaven" cried the com
missioner, despairingly, "come out OF tha'
| ofice and get on to the robbery"
81 will, monsieur, just as soon as L cam
but you see all this happencd-"
"Wherel" shouted the commissioner,
| furiously.
"In the little ofice, Of course" mur-
INJURED Cato, plaintively. "First we tcoK
ten bills Of a thousand forms each and put
them one after the other into the money
bag; then, save your honor, pulled on my
clothes, strapped the bag to my oacK'
dressed myself again, and was ready Tor a
start Don't disturb yourselves, l beg OF
you,' ] said to my friends. but must leave
| you; the train goes in thirty minutes We
drank another glass to my safe return, L
| embraced my wife, shook hands with the
! notary, called carriage and rushed for the
station, the superintendent and two of the
employees accompanying me, singing all
along the route to keep away the robbers.
At the station, by the advice Of the super
intendent, took a sleeping-car, to avoid
bad company, and one ofthe employees went
/ to buy my ticket while the other stayed to
| guard my valise and help me to mount into
the carriage.
"'Pay attention to your company, and do
not dare to speak Of your money-bag,
| shouted the superintendent, the conductor
f slammed the door, the bell rang, and we
were off,
Thank heavenl" calculated the officer;
| land now what next!"
|'It is just as have told you. monsieur ~
| persisted Cato, with the air Of a martyr;
land next stretched myself upon the cush-
| ions, drew the curtains and went to sleep.
When l woke again we were entertaining
the gare here. search for my money-bag
it is no longer on my back-I have been
robbed!'
when did you say you went to sleepr'
demanded the chef.
| LAS soon as we started believe"
"But why did you believe iti''
| because did not hear them cry the sta
tions."
! "And you slept throughout the trip!"
81 think so, but do not quite remember -
"Did you notice whether you had been
disturbed, or your things disarrangedy"
mo, nothing; and yet, now think of it,
| it seems to me that at one time felt cur
rent of sir-from the window, perhaps"
''Why then didn't you close it!"
Il did close it," Cato replied, with dig
nifty, "as the superintendent and two en-
[ ployes can bear witness. The current of
air came in Of course as the robber opened
the window to rob me-"
During the whole of this interrogation
the commissioner had kept his eyes upon
the skies, inwardly praying that the One
on high would grant him clew to the rid
die.
81 presume you have no suspicions" he
| said at last.
| 81! mercy, mol I haven't an idea; the
windows were shut and was entirely alone
in my compartment
''Then have it." cried the commissioner;
81 have it'll know the man-it was the
conductor"
'ImpossibleW said the chef de gare, s'his
conduct has always been most exemplary"
Nothing is impossible where money is
concentrating him to mer' 1t was not
difficult to do this, as he was on the plat
form near them. He turned as pale as
death when the officer seized him by the
arm and brusquely demanded of him the
stolen money-bag.
~ know nothing about it," said he; ~
am innocentp'
"All robbers say the same until the mag
istrate takes them in hand-come, forward,
march!' and the commissioner, with an
air of great official superiority, turned upon
his heel and started away with his prisoner.
''Sign my deposition tirstr' shouted Cato
frantically, as he saw him going, 'and now
before leave the coachp'
All at once thought flashed across the
brain of the commissioner. Without losing
his hold of the conductor he stretched out
his arm and caught NJ. Cato by the collar.
The big man, not expecting an invitation
given in so brusque fashion, nearly fell
upon his nose upon the platform.
you'll come with US, too, my friend"
said the officer, holding him with grasp
of iron; tive are not through with you yet"
Every WELL" said Cato, though some
what astonished at the turn the affair had
taken; "but unloose me, if you please"
sit is not our habit to unloose robbers"
''But am no robber-on the contrary, it
is who have been robbed"
"Then the money belonged to youl"
"Not at all; it belonged to my proprie-
taire."
When one loses the money of his proprie-
taire the law regards him no longer an hon.
est man. Come, my boys, forward march
to the examining magfstrate!'
NJ. Matthias Heveder, the examining mag
istrate, was great criminalist and firm
adherent of the new school Of criminal pro-
cedure. Like bee he slipped his honey
from every flower, but invariably ended his
examination with the stereotyped phrase:
THE French say in the presence of a mys-
terious crime: "A woman is at the bottom
of it-seek herp go further and say:
Find herr and always have up to this
time. Twill find her now"
This Cato affair more than aroused his
keenest interest, and he put in play to dis
cover the criminal his utmost skill and
astuteness. Commencing with the two sus-
pected ones, he placed them in the strictest
solitude, declining to allow them to COM
municate with living soul. In vain Cato
besought him with streaming eyes to allow
him to write, or at least telegraph, to his
proprietaire, who was waiting for the ten
thousand forms, and who would certainly
begin to misconstrue his silence and nom
appearance. The magistrate, however, was
inexorable "A woman is at the bottom of
it,'' he stubbornly repeated; "that woman
we must find. From inquiries which Ihaye
made it appears that one Of the prisoners,
Cato by name, is married. have sent by
telegraph warrant for the arrest of his
wife. In the morning she will be here
under my hand. As the conductor is not
married, it follows, of course, that he has
a mistress. If we can discover who she is,
we shall have not the one but the two
women who are in question, and thereby
arrive at a solution of the puzzle.n
Telegraphing the news of the robbery to
every station along the line, the magistrate
shut himself into his apartments with the
return dispatches and studied them dill
gently. From the most of them nothing
could he learned: two alone attracted b;s
attention. The first one stated that a rail-